Erica R., 12th Grade

The Psychology of Loneliness in
Wuthering Heights

According
to Eric Levy, Emily Bronte’s characters go through two stages; childhood and
then an afterlife-like adulthood. Once one enters this “adult afterlife”, the
character has an already formed opinion of love that they acquired during their
childhood years. The characters in Wuthering Heights all have been raised in an
environment that hinders them from attaining a fulfilling love in their adult
lives. The two types of these environments are the unlove and the overlove, the
unlove represents the Earnshaw family where the child is subjected to neglect,
abuse, and rejection. However, the Linton family exemplifies the overlove where
the children are overprotected and coddled, sending the message that the
children are “too weak to ever leave” Levy writes. The most prevalent result of
either of these experiences growing up is the character’s inability to separate
the need for love from the fear of abandonment. Regardless of whether the
character was unloved or overloved, they all have a distrust of love either for
fear of rejection (unlove) or an overwhelming attachment for fear of being left
(overlove) (Levy).At some points during the novel, a character will solve
this love mystery and seem to be fulfilled. This is exemplified through Hindley and his
wife, Edgar with Catherine, and Isabella with Heathcliff. They act as if they
have gotten what they wanted and openly give their love to their significant
other without the fear of rejection. However, this never seems to end well for
them and they learn their lesson. Hindley is punished for his love with the
loss of his wife, Isabella is punished for her love with the way Heathcliff
treats her, and Edgar is punished with his love by watching Catherine love
Heathcliff and not being able to stop it. On the other hand, Heathcliff and Catherine
seem to always be at conflict with their love lives. They are constantly
struggling to find some form of relief from their anguish but they are never
able to find a solution. They never even admit their feelings for each other
until Catherine is on her deathbed. Their need for love is not expressed by
being with each other, but by their pain and loneliness. It is as if some
strange force is interacting with all these characters, causing them pain when
they are able to break the cycle and give themselves a chance to be able to
love correctly, and continuing to torment those who are unable to let
themselves fall into love (Levy).